Model-based provisioning of test environments

ABSTRACT

Model-based provisioning of test environments includes accessing a model of an application to be installed in a test environment of a system and further accessing a model of the system and a model of the test environment. An installation specification for the application is also generated, the installation specification being derived at least in part from the model of the application, the model of the system, and the model of the test environment.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/693,838, filed Oct. 24, 2003, entitled “Integrating Design, Deployment, and Management Phases for Systems”, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/693,838 claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/452,736, filed Mar. 6, 2003, entitled “Architecture for Distributed Computing System and Automated Design, Deployment, and Management of Distributed Applications”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Computers have become increasingly commonplace in our world and offer a variety of different functionality. Some computers are designed primarily for individual use, while others are designed primarily to be accessed by multiple users and/or multiple other computers concurrently. These different functionalities are realized by the use of different hardware components as well as different software applications that are installed on the computers.

Although the variety of available computer functionality and software applications is a tremendous benefit to the end users of the computers, it has resulted in software applications becoming increasingly powerful in terms of their features and capabilities, and thus increasingly complex. Because of the difficulties in developing complex software applications, software applications are typically tested by application developers in order to identify as many potential problems as possible before the software applications are sold or otherwise made available to their intended users. Testing software applications, however, can be problematic in that it is time consuming and difficult because it typically requires the application to be installed on one or more computers on which the testing will be performed. In some situations, the software application is tested across many machines simultaneously in order to ensure that the application scales properly, communicates among multiple computers properly, and so forth.

In light of these difficulties and problems, it would be beneficial to have an improved way to install software applications on computers in a test environment.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Model-based provisioning of test environments is described herein.

In accordance with certain aspects, a model of an application to be installed in a test environment of a system as well as a model of the test environment and a model of the system are accessed. An installation specification for the application is also generated, the installation specification being derived at least in part from the model of the application, the model of the system, and the model of the test environment. The installation specification describes how to install the application on computing device(s) in the system, including identifying any additional applications that should be installed on the computing device(s).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system definition model (SDM) that can be used with the model-based virtual system provisioning described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example use of types, configurations, and instances.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example process for provisioning a test environment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example application installation specification in additional detail.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the generation of an application installation specification for physical deployment in additional detail.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example general computer environment, which can be used to implement the techniques described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Model-based virtual provisioning of test environments is described herein. An installation specification for provisioning a computing device(s) in the test environment is generated and subsequently used to provision the computing device(s). The installation specification describes how to install the application on the computing device(s), including how to install any additional applications that should first be installed on the computing device(s), such as an operating system. The installation specification is derived at least in part from a model of the application to be installed on the computing device(s), a model of the system that includes the test environment(s), and a model of the test environment(s).

As used herein, an application refers to a collection of instructions that can be executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) of a computing device. An application can be any of a variety of different types of software or firmware, or portions thereof. Examples of applications include programs that run on an operating system, the operating system, operating system components, services, infrastructure, middleware, portions of any of these, and so forth.

A system definition model (SDM) describes a system that can be managed. Management of a system can include, for example, installing software on the system, monitoring the performance of the system, maintaining configuration information about the system, verifying that constraints within the system are satisfied, combinations thereof, and so forth. A system can be, for example, an application, a single computing device, multiple computing devices networked together (e.g., via a private or personal network such as a local area network (LAN) or via a larger network such as the Internet), and so forth.

The systems discussed herein can optionally include virtual systems. A virtual system includes one or more computing devices that run a virtual machine (or are capable of running a virtual machine). A virtual machine can be thought of as a computing device implemented in software. A virtual machine typically emulates a computing device, including all of the hardware components of a computing device, although in some cases the physical devices may be assigned directly to a virtual machine without emulation. A virtual machine runs on a computing device in its own isolated and self-contained environment, having its own operating system and optionally other software installed on it. Multiple virtual machines can be run on the same computing device, each of the multiple virtual machines having its own isolated environment and its own operating system installed thereon. A virtual system can include one or more computing devices that already run a virtual machine and/or one or more computing devices that are to have a virtual machine provisioned thereon. A virtual machine can be provisioned on a computing device as part of the test environment provisioning described herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example SDM 100 that can be used with the model-based system provisioning described herein. SDM 100 includes a component corresponding to each of one or more software and/or hardware components being managed in a system. These software and/or hardware components being managed refer to those software and/or hardware components that the author of SDM 100 and/or designers of the system desires to include in SDM 100. Examples of hardware and/or software components that could be in a system include an application (such as a database application, email application, file server application, game, productivity application, operating system, and so forth), particular hardware on a computer (such as a network card, a hard disk drive, one of multiple processors, and so forth), a virtual machine, a computer, a group of multiple computers, and so on. A system refers to a collection of one or more hardware and/or software components.

SDM 100 represents a system including component 102, component 104, component 106, component 108, component 110, component 112, and component 114. Although the example SDM 100 includes seven components, in practice a system, and thus the SDM, can include any number of components.

For example, component 106 could represent a particular computer, while component 104 represents an operating system running on that particular computer. By way of another example, component 106 could represent an operating system, while component 104 represents a database application running on the operating system. By way of yet another example, component 114 could represent a particular computer, while component 112 represents an operating system installed on that particular computer, component 110 represents a virtual machine running on the operating system, and component 108 represents an operating system running on the virtual machine. Note that the operating systems associated with component 112 and component 108 could be the same or alternatively two different operating systems.

The SDM is intended to be a comprehensive knowledge store, containing all information used in managing the system. This information includes information regarding the particular components in the system, as well as relationships among the various components in the system. Despite this intent, it is to be appreciated that the SDM may contain only some of the information used in managing the system rather than all of the information.

Relationships can exist between different components in a system, and these relationships are typically illustrated in SDM diagrams with lines connecting the related components. Examples of relationships that can exist between components include containment relationships, hosting relationships, and communication relationships. Containment relationships identify one component as being contained by another component—data and definitions of the component being contained are incorporated into the containing component. When a component is installed on a system, any components contained in that component are also typically installed on the system. In FIG. 1, containment relationships are illustrated by the diagonal lines connecting component 102 and component 104, and connecting component 102 and component 108.

Hosting relationships identify dependencies among components. In a hosting relationship, the hosting component typically must be present in order for the guest component to be included in the system. In FIG. 1, hosting relationships are illustrated by the vertical lines connecting component 104 and component 106, connecting component 108 and component 110, connecting component 110 and 112, and connecting component 112 and 114.

Communication relationships identify components that can communicate with one another. Communication relationships may or may not imply that a dependency exists between the components. In FIG. 1, communication relationships are illustrated by the horizontal line connecting component 104 and component 108.

Associated with each component in SDM 100 is one or more information (info) pages. Information pages 122 are associated with component 102, information pages 124 are associated with component 104, information pages 126 are associated with component 106, information pages 128 are associated with component 108, information pages 130 are associated with component 110, information pages 132 are associated with component 112, and information pages 134 are associated with component 114. Each information page contains information about the associated component. Different types of information can be maintained for different components. One or more information pages can be associated with each component in SDM 100, and the particular information that is included in a particular information page can vary in different implementations. All the information can be included on a single information page, or alternatively different pieces of information can be grouped together in any desired manner and included on different pages. In certain embodiments, different pages contain different types of information, such as one page containing installation information and another page containing constraint information. Alternatively, different types of information may be included on the same page, such as installation information and constraint information being included on the same page.

Examples of types of information pages include installation pages, constraint pages, monitoring pages, service level agreement pages, description pages, and so forth. Installation pages include information describing how to install the associated component onto another component (e.g., install an application onto a computer), such as what files to copy onto a hard drive, what system settings need to be added or changed (such as data to include in an operating system registry), what configuration programs to run after files are copied onto the hard drive, sequencing specifications that identify that a particular installation or configuration step of one component should be completed before an installation or configuration step of another component, and so forth.

Constraint pages include information describing constraints for the associated component, including constraints to be imposed on the associated component, as well as constraints to be imposed on the system in which the associated component is being used (or is to be used). Constraints imposed on the associated component are settings that the component should have (or alternatively should not have) when the component is installed into a system. Constraints imposed on the system are settings (or other configuration items, such as the existence of another application or a piece of hardware) that the system should have (or alternatively should not have) in order for the associated component to be used in that particular system.

It should also be noted that constraints can flow across relationships. For example, constraints can identify settings that any component that is contained by the component, or that any component that contains the component, should have (or alternatively should not have). By way of another example, constraints can identify settings that any component that is hosted by the component, or that any component that hosts the component, should have (or alternatively should not have). By way of yet another example, constraints can identify settings that any component that communicates with the component should have (or alternatively should not have).

In addition, constraint pages may also include a description of how particular settings (or components) are to be discovered. For example, if a constraint indicates that an application should not co-exist with Microsoft® SQL Server, then the constraint page could also include a description of how to discover whether Microsoft® SQL Server is installed in the system. By way of another example, if a constraint indicates that available physical memory should exceed a certain threshold, then the constraint page could also include a description of how to discover the amount of available physical memory in the system. By way of still another example, if a constraint indicates that a security setting for Microsoft® SQL Server should have a particular value, then the constraint page could also include a description of how to discover the value of that security setting for Microsoft® SQL Server.

Constraint pages may also include a description of how particular settings are to be modified if they are discovered to not be in compliance with the constraints. Alternatively, the constraint pages could include specifications of some other action(s) to take if particular settings are discovered to not be in compliance with the constraints, such as sending an event into the system's event log, alerting an operator, starting a software application to take some corrective action, and so forth. Alternatively, the constraint pages could include a policy that describes what action to take under various circumstances, such as depending on the time of day, depending on the location of the system.

Constraint pages may also optionally include default values for at least some of these settings, identifying a default value to use within a range of values that satisfy the constraint. These default values can be used to assist in installation of an application, as discussed in more detail below.

Monitoring pages include information related to monitoring the performance and/or health of the associated component. This information can include rules describing how the associated component is to be monitored (e.g., what events or other criteria to look for when monitoring the component), as well as what actions to take when a particular rule is satisfied (e.g., record certain settings or what events occurred, sound an alarm, etc.).

Service level agreement pages include information describing agreements between two or more parties regarding the associated component (e.g., between the purchaser of the associated component and the seller from which the associated component was purchased). These can be accessed during operation of the system to determine, for example, whether the agreement reached between the two or more parties is being met by the parties.

Description pages include information describing the associated component, such as various settings for the component, or other characteristics of the component. These settings or characteristics can include a name or other identifier of the component, the manufacturer of the component, when the component was installed or manufactured, performance characteristics of the component, and so forth. For example, a description page associated with a component that represents a computing device may include information about the amount of memory installed in the computing device, a description page associated with a component that represents a processor may include information about the speed of the processor, a description page associated with a component that represents a hard drive may include information about the storage capacity of the hard drive and the speed of the hard drive, and so forth.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, an SDM maintains various information (e.g., installation, constraints, monitoring, etc.) regarding each component in the system. Despite the varied nature of these information pages, they are maintained together in the SDM and thus can all be readily accessed by various utilities or other applications involved in the management of the system.

An SDM can be generated and stored in any of a variety of different ways and using any of a variety of different data structures. For example, the SDM may be stored in a database. By way of another example, the SDM may be stored in a file or set of multiple files, the files being encoded in XML (Extensible Markup Language) or alternatively some other form. By way of yet another example, the SDM may not be explicitly stored, but constructed each time it is needed. The SDM could be constructed as needed from information existing in other forms, such as installation specifications.

In certain embodiments, the SDM is based on a data structure format including types, instances, and optionally configurations. Each component in the SDM corresponds to or is associated with a type, an instance, and possibly one or more configurations. Additionally, each type, instance, and configuration corresponding to a particular component can have its own information page(s). A type refers to a general template having corresponding information pages that describe the component generally. Typically, each different version of a component will correspond to its own type (e.g., version 1.0 of a software component would correspond to one type, while version 1.1 of that software component would correspond to another type). A configuration refers to a more specific template that can include more specific information for a particular class of the type. An instance refers to a specific occurrence of a type or configuration, and corresponds to an actual physical component (software, hardware, firmware, etc.).

For types, configurations, and instances associated with a component, information contained in information pages associated with an instance can be more specific or restrictive than, but generally cannot contradict or be broader than, the information contained in information pages associated with the type or the configuration. Similarly, information contained in information pages associated with a configuration can be more specific or restrictive than, but cannot contradict or be broader than, the information contained in information pages associated with the type. For example, if a constraint page associated with a type defines a range of values for a buffer size, the constraint page associated with the configuration or the instance could define a smaller range of values within that range of values, but could not define a range that exceeds that range of values.

It should be noted, however, that in certain circumstances a model of an existing system as deployed (that is, a particular instance of a system) may violate the information contained in information pages associated with the type for that existing system. This situation can arise, for example, where the system was deployed prior to an SDM for the system being created, or where a user (such as a system administrator) may have intentionally deployed the system in noncompliance with the information contained in information pages associated with the type for that existing system.

The use of types, configurations, and instances is illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, a type 202 corresponds to a particular component. Three different instances 204, 206, and 208 of that particular component exist and are based on type 202. Additionally, a configuration (config) 210 exists which includes additional information for a particular class of the particular component, and two instances 212 and 214 of that particular class of the particular component.

For example, assume that a particular component is a database application. A type 202 corresponding to the database application is created, having an associated constraint information page. The constraint information page includes various general constraints for the database application. For example, one of the constraints may be a range of values that a particular buffer size should be within for the database application. Type 202 corresponds to the database application in general.

Each of the instances 204, 206, and 208 corresponds to a different example of the database application. Each of the instances 204, 206, and 208 is an actual database application, and can have its own associated information pages. For example, each instance could have its own associated description information page that could include a unique identifier of the particular associated database application. By way of another example, the constraint information page associated with each instance could include a smaller range of values for the buffer size than is indicated in the constraint information page associated with type 202.

The information pages corresponding to the instances in FIG. 2 can be in addition to, or alternatively in place of, the information pages corresponding to the type. For example, two constraint information pages may be associated with each instance 204, 206, and 208, the first constraint information page being a copy of the constraint information page associated with type 202 and the second constraint information page being the constraint information page associated with the particular instance and including constraints for just that instance. Alternatively, a single constraint information page may be associated with each instance 204, 206, and 208, the single constraint information page including the information from the constraint information page associated with type 202 as well as information specific to the particular instance. For example, the range of values that the particular buffer size should be within for the database application would be copied from the constraint information page associated with type 202 to the constraint information page associated with each instance. However, if the constraint information page for the instance indicated a different range of values for that particular buffer size, then that different range of values would remain in the constraint information page associated with the instance rather than copying the range of values from the constraint information page associated with type 202.

Following this example of a database application, configuration 210 corresponds to a particular class of the database application. For example, different classes of the database application may be defined based on the type of hardware the application is to be installed on, such as different settings based on whether the computer on which the database application is to be installed is publicly accessible (e.g., accessible via the Internet), or based on whether an operating system is already installed on the server. These different settings are included in the constraint information page associated with configuration 210.

Each of the instances 212 and 214 corresponds to a different example of the database application. Similar to instances 204, 206, and 208, each of instances 212 and 214 is an actual database application, and can have its own information page(s). However, unlike instances 204, 206, and 208, the constraint information pages associated with instances 212 and 214 each include the constraints that are in the constraint information page associated with configuration 210 as well as the constraints in the constraint information page associated with type 202.

It should be noted that, although the information pages are discussed as being separate from the components in the SDM, the data structure(s) implementing the SDM could alternatively include the information discussed as being included in the various information pages. Thus, the component data structures themselves could include the information discussed as being included in the various information pages rather than having separate information pages.

The installation page associated with a component can be used as a basis for provisioning a system. Provisioning a system refers to installing an application(s) on the system, as well as making any necessary changes to the system in order for the application(s) to be installed. Such necessary changes can include installing an operating system on a computing device of the system, setting configuration values for the operating system, installing one or more other applications, and so forth. In the case of a virtual system, such necessary changes can also include creating a new virtual machine on the computing device and installing an operating system on the new virtual machine.

In the discussions herein, reference is made to different classes of computing devices. Each of these different classes of computing devices refers to computing devices having particular common characteristics, so they are grouped together and viewed as a class of devices. Examples of different classes of devices include IIS (Internet Information Services) servers that are accessible to the Internet, IIS servers that are accessible only on an internal intranet, database servers, email servers, order processing servers, desktop computers, and so forth. Typically, each different class of computing device corresponds to one of the configurations in the system model.

These different classes of computing devices can be different classes of physical devices, as well as different classes of virtual machines. The classes may distinguish between virtual machine classes and physical device classes. For example, one class may be database virtual machines, another class may be database physical servers (not running the database on a virtual machine), another class may be an order processing virtual machine, another class may be an order processing physical server (not running the order processing application(s) on a virtual machine), and so forth. Alternatively, the classes may not distinguish between virtual machine classes and physical device classes. For example, a single database server class may be used for database servers regardless of whether the database application(s) are run on a virtual machine or a computing device without a virtual machine(s).

When the provisioning involves provisioning of virtual systems, the provisioning can be based in part on workloads. Generally, a workload is some computing that is to be performed. A workload typically includes an application to be executed to perform the computing, and can also include the operating system on which the application is to be installed. Various configuration information describing how the application and/or operating system is to be configured, as well as data to be used by the application and/or operating system when executing, can also be included in the workload. A model of the workload includes the application, operating system, configuration information, and/or data, as well as constraints of the workload such as resources and/or other capabilities that the virtual machine(s) on which the workload is to be installed must have. Such a model of the workload can be used in place of the model of the application discussed below.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 300 for provisioning a test environment. Portions of process 300 can be implemented in software, firmware, and/or hardware.

Initially, a model of the application to be installed on a system is built (act 302). This building process in act 302 is typically performed by the developer of the application, although could alternatively be performed by others. This model is an SDM model of the application, analogous to model 100 of FIG. 1, and includes one or more components. The model of the application includes types and optionally configurations. As part of the building process in act 302, zero or more information pages are associated with each component in the model. Typically, at least a constraint information page is associated with each component in the model.

As part of the building process in act 302, types and optionally configurations are defined, along with associated information page(s). The types and configurations can be standard types or configurations that are copied or modified in act 302, or alternatively can be newly created in act 302. As discussed above, different constraints can be included in the configuration information page associated with the type and the configuration information page associated with the configuration.

The constraints included on a constraint information page can take a variety of forms, such as: hardware requirements regarding the computing device(s) or other hardware on which the application is to be installed (e.g., a minimum processor speed, a minimum amount of memory, a minimum amount of free hard drive space, a minimum amount of network bandwidth available, particular security mechanisms available, and so forth), software requirements regarding the computing device(s) or other hardware or software on which the application is to be installed (e.g., a particular operating system that should already be installed on the computing device(s), one or more other applications that should already be installed on the computing device(s), specifications regarding how particular hardware and/or the operating system is to be configured such as particular settings for the operating system that should already be made, a particular type of security or encryption that should be in use, and so forth), requirements regarding a virtual machine that should be created on a computing device as well as requirements regarding an operating system that should be installed on the virtual machine before the application can be installed thereon, other requirements regarding the computing device(s) on which the application is to be installed (e.g., particular security keys available, data center policies that should be enforced, authentication that is used, system topology, etc.), and so on.

Constraints can be positive requirements specifying that something should be present (e.g., the processor should have at least a minimum processor speed, or the Windows® XP operating system should already be installed on the computing device). Constraints can also be negative requirements specifying that something should not be present (e.g., one or more particular applications should not already be installed on the computing device, or particular operating system settings should not be present).

Additionally, a model of the system where the application is to be installed is built (act 304). This building process in act 304 is typically performed by an administrator of the system where the application is to be installed, although could alternatively be performed by others. This model is an SDM model of the system analogous to model 100 of FIG. 1, and includes one or more components. The model of the system includes types and instances, and optionally configurations. As discussed in more detail below, for virtual systems a new virtual machine may be created onto which the application will be installed. As such, no instance for the virtual machine exists yet in the model of the system. However, the computing device on which the virtual machine will run may already exist, in which case an instance of that computing device is in the model of the system.

The system in act 304 could be a single computing device, or alternatively multiple computing devices. For example, if the application will be installed on a computing device in a data center having a thousand computing devices, then the model of the system where the application is to be installed may include all or some of those thousand computing devices. By way of another example, if the application will be installed on a home computer that is not coupled to any other computers, then the model of the virtual system where the application is to be installed will include just that home computer.

It should also be noted that the exact nature of a computing device can vary, and that any of a wide variety of computing devices can be a system in act 304. For example, “hierarchical” computers can exist, such as a rack that can contain multiple chassis, each chassis can contain multiple blades, each blade can contain multiple motherboards, each motherboard can contain multiple processors, and each processor can contain multiple cores. Any of these components of such a hierarchical computer can be viewed as a computing device (e.g., the rack can be a computing device, each chassis can be a computing device, each blade can be a computing device, each motherboard can be a computing device, each processor can be a computing device, and/or each core can be a computing device).

Oftentimes, the model of the system built in act 304 will be generated by the system administrator prior to the application being designed and the model of the application being built in act 302. In such situations, the previously generated model can be accessed and need not be re-built in act 304.

Components in the model of the system built in act 304 will include constraint information pages. These constraint information pages include constraints for each component in the system. Such constraint information pages can identify constraints for the corresponding component, and optionally constraints that should be satisfied by any application to be installed on the corresponding component.

Based on the models built in acts 302 and 304, a logical deployment evaluation is performed (act 306). The logical deployment evaluation involves comparing the model of the application (from act 302) to the model of the system (from act 304) to determine whether the application could be installed in the system. Typically, the application designer or system administrator will identify a particular class (or classes) of computing device on which he or she desires to install the application. Alternatively, the application may be compared to all classes of computing devices in the system.

The constraints and/or description information for the application are compared to the constraints for that class of computing device to determine whether the application satisfies the constraints of the class of computing device, and the constraints and/or description information for the class of computing device are compared to the constraints for the application to determine whether the class of computing device satisfies the constraints of the application. The constraints and description information for all components of the class of computing device, including applications that are hosted by the class of computing device (e.g., an operating system as well as possibly other applications) are also accessed as part of the logical deployment evaluation. These constraints used in the logical deployment evaluation can include constraints that are flowed across relationships, as discussed above. Accessing the constraints for the operating system and other applications allows verification that, if installed on a device of the class of computing device, settings made on the computing device for the application would not conflict with current settings for other applications installed on the computing device, and that the computing device has the characteristics, capabilities and resources required by the application.

By way of example, a particular constraint on the class of computing device may indicate that a software firewall should always be running on the class of computing device. A description page associated with the application would be accessed to verify that the application does not require a software firewall to be deactivated. By way of another example, another application already installed on the class of computing device may indicate that memory in the computing device should be configured or accessed in a particular manner. A description page associated with the application would be accessed to verify that the application does not require configuration or access to the memory that is inconsistent with that particular manner.

By way of yet another example, a particular constraint on the application may indicate that the computing device should have a minimum processor speed. A description page associated with the class of computing device (or the processor of the class of computing device) would be accessed to verify that the speed of the processor is at least the minimum processor speed. In the case of a virtual machine, this processor speed could refer to the speed of the virtual processor of the virtual machine on which the application would be installed, or the speed of the physical processor of the class of computing device on which the virtual machine is installed. Furthermore, the fractional parts of the physical processor may be allocated to each virtual machine, and each such fractional part serves as the virtual processor for the virtual machine to which the part is allocated. As a fractional part of the physical processor could not be allocated as a virtual processor with a faster speed than the physical processor, a check would be made to ensure that the speed of the physical processor satisfies the constraint. Furthermore, a check would also be made that the fractional part of the physical processor can be allocated to the virtual machine to create a virtual processor that satisfies the constraint. This check can be performed by checking a description page associated with the virtual system, or by communicating a request or query to a virtual system management component as to whether it would be able to create such a virtual machine having a virtual processor satisfying the constraint. It is to be appreciated that such speeds of virtual processors can vary depending on the number of other virtual machines that are already running on the computing device, as the presence of such other virtual machines will affect the fractional part of the physical processor that can be allocated to the virtual machine.

By way of yet another example, a particular constraint on a workload may indicate that the computing of the workload should be performed between midnight and 4:00 am. A description page associated with the class of computing device would be accessed to verify that the computing device has sufficient processing capacity (in light of other workloads already scheduled to be performed between midnight and 4:00 am) to have a new virtual machine (or alternatively an existing virtual machine) perform the computing of the workload.

It should be noted that whatever components are referenced by constraints in the SDM are evaluated in act 306, regardless of what those components are. Typically, constraints of the class of computing device are evaluated in act 306 down to the layer that is hosting the application being installed, but may extend to other layers if referenced in the SDM. By way of example, assume that a virtual machine is being provisioned on a computing device, and an application is being provisioned on the virtual machine. Typically, constraints of the virtual machine would be evaluated against the computing device and the operating system running on the computing device, while constraints of the application would be evaluated against the virtual machine (and any operating system running on the virtual machine). However, if the application had a constraint referencing the computing device itself (e.g., regarding physical protection of the computing device on which the application is deployed), then that constraint of the application would be evaluated against the computing device.

The results of the evaluation in act 306 can be returned to the application designer and/or system administrator. An indication of success (if all of the constraints are satisfied) or failure (if all of the constraints are not satisfied) can be returned. In addition, if one or more of the constraints are not satisfied, then an indication of which constraint was not satisfied can be returned, as well as optionally an indication of which component caused the constraint to not be satisfied. Returning such information can assist the application developer in modifying the application so that it can be installed in the system, or identifying another system that may be better capable of supporting the test deployment of the application.

Process 300 then proceeds based on the results of the evaluation in act 306. If the evaluation indicates that the application can be installed in the system, then process 300 can proceed to act 308. Act 306 may also optionally be repeated for a different class of computing device in the system. However, if the evaluation indicates that the application cannot be installed in the system, then the evaluation of act 306 can be repeated for a different class of computing device in the system, or alternatively the application may be modified in order to overcome the problem(s) identified in the evaluation of act 306, and process 300 can return to act 302 to build a model of the modified application.

A model(s) of one or more test environments is also built (act 308). The test environment includes at least some of the components (and optionally all of the components) in the system for which the system model is built in act 304. This building process in act 308 is typically performed by an administrator of the system where the application is to be tested, although could alternatively be performed by others. The system where the application is to be tested can be the same as the system where the application is to be installed and used by one or more end users, although typically it is a different system. Each of these models is an SDM model of a test environment analogous to model 100 of FIG. 1, and includes one or more components. Each model of a test environment includes types and instances, and optionally configurations.

A test environment is a system, and the model of a test environment is similar to the model of a system discussed above in act 304. However, a test environment is typically expected to have a shorter lifespan than other systems. The test environment is created for the purpose of testing an application(s), and then the machines in the test environment are typically re-provisioned for other uses.

Different test environments can be created for an application in order to test different characteristics and/or functionality of an application. For example, one test environment may have a single computing device on which the application is to be installed in order to test the functionality of the computing device. By way of another example, another test environment may have 20 or 30 computing devices on which the application is to be installed in order to test the performance or scalability of the application.

The model for the application to be tested can include constraints that specify a range of values that should be used during testing. For example, the memory for the application could be specified as ranging from 512 MB to 4096 MB in increments of 512 MB. Acts 310 through 316 of process 300 are then repeated for each such configuration. If sufficient computer resources are available, several test systems can be provisioned at the same time and several tests executed in parallel. If sufficient resources are not available for such a parallel test, the various configurations are queued and provisioned sequentially. Combinations of parallel and sequential provisioning are also possible.

The model for the application to be tested can also include specifications that certain values should be randomized. For example, the size of data files that are to be used when testing a backup utility can be set to a random set of values and the tests executed ten times with the different values. This can be useful because, for example, it eliminates systematic bias in the testing, helping ensure that a truly representative set of tests are run.

In order to reduce the cost of provisioning the test environment, such as the network bandwidth required to send applications and operating systems to the computer systems employed in the test environment, process 300 can take into account the amount of change required to transition from one test environment to another and sequentially provision the test environments in a way that reduces that cost. The same technique can be applied when provisioning a single test environment, or the first test environment in a sequence, by evaluating existing environments that have been used for other purposes and identifying which one would require the least amount of provisioning work. This analysis of the amount of change required is based on simple comparisons of the attributes of the systems in the model, both the application model and the test environment model.

A test environment can optionally be a virtual system. In the case of a virtual system, the test environment can describe one or more new virtual machines onto which the application is to be installed. As such, no instance for the virtual machines exist yet in the model of the test environment. However, the computing device on which the virtual machine will run may already exist, in which case an instance of that computing device is in the model of the test environment.

In act 310, physical deployment of the application to one of the test environment(s) is determined. Determining physical deployment of the application to the test environment refers to identifying which particular computing device(s) in the test environment will have the application installed thereon (and optionally also have a new virtual machine created thereon). This physical deployment can also take into account the amount of change required to transition from one test environment to another as discussed above. As part of act 310, which computing device(s) in the system are to have the test environment created thereon can also be identified. Such computing device(s) can be identified in the same manner as the particular computing device on which the application is to be installed is determined as discussed below (such as manually, automatically, semi-automatically).

The particular computing device(s) on which the application is to be installed can be identified in different manners. One way in which the particular computing device(s) on which the application is to be installed can be identified is manually, such as by a system administrator or other party manually selecting a particular computing device(s). This manually selected computing device(s) could be a computing device(s) already in the system, or alternatively a new computing device(s) that needs to be purchased or a computing device(s) that needs to be removed from storage and added to the system (e.g., coupled to the network that the other computing devices in the system are coupled to).

Alternatively, the particular computing device(s) on which the application is to be installed can be identified automatically. An application running in the system can identify various characteristics of the computing devices on which the computer could possibly be installed (e.g., the computing devices of the particular class of computing device on which the application is to be installed), such as load characteristics of each computing device. The load characteristics could identify, for example, the average or maximum amount of processor usage, the average amount of memory usage, the amount of available network bandwidth being used, the amount of hard disk drive space being used, and so forth. Based on these load characteristics, the computing device(s) most likely to be able to support the application would be identified as the computing device(s) on which the application is to be installed (e.g., the application having the lightest load, such as the lowest average processor usage, the smallest amount of available network bandwidth being used, the most hard disk drive space available, and so forth).

In situations where the application is installed on a virtual machine, typically a new virtual machine is created on which the application will be installed. Thus, the characteristics of the computing devices are evaluated for purposes of determining which computing device will have the new virtual machine installed. Alternatively, a new virtual machine may not be created, and the application may be installed on an already running virtual machine. In such situations, the characteristics of the currently running virtual machines are evaluated for purposes of determining which virtual machine will have the new application installed on it.

Alternatively, the particular computing device(s) on which the application is to be installed can be identified in a semi-automatic manner. An application running in the system can identify various characteristics of the computing devices on which the application could possibly be installed (or characteristics of the virtual machines on which the application could possibly be installed) analogous to the automatic manner, and then present those results to a user (such as the system administrator) for manual selection of one or more of the computing devices (or virtual machines). One or more of the computing devices may optionally be recommended to the user as the best candidate(s) for selection, but the ultimate selection would remain at the user's discretion.

In addition, selection of different sources of data and/or other systems to which access is needed may be performed as part of the physical deployment determining of act 310. For example, multiple sources may exist from which data identified as being required in the model of the application can be obtained, or multiple replicated file servers may exist that can be a file server identified as being required in the model of the application. Particular sources of data and/or other systems to which access is needed may be selected in act 310 based on various factors, such as the load on the various sources and/or other systems, the bandwidth of the connection to those sources and/or systems, and so forth. Alternatively, rather than being performed as part of act 310, selection of such sources of data and/or other systems to which access is needed may be performed as part of the physical deployment in act 314 discussed below.

It should be noted that one additional factor that can be optionally taken into account when identifying the characteristics of the various computing devices is that virtual machines can be rearranged to run on different computing devices. For example, a virtual machine running on one computing device could be moved to another computing device, thereby freeing up capacity on the original computing device. Such a process of moving or rearranging virtual machines is also referred to as migration of the virtual machines. Virtual machines can be migrated in any of a variety of manners, such as with the assistance of the Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT) available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

Accounting for the possibility of migrating virtual machines allows the load characteristics of the computing devices to be changed by migrating the virtual machines. For example, the situation may arise where none of the computing devices have the desired spare capacity to create a virtual machine on which the application could be installed, but that capacity of one of the computing devices could be released by moving a virtual machine from that one computing device to another of the computing devices. After the virtual machine is moved, however, the released capacity results in that one computing device having sufficient capacity so that the new virtual machine on which the application is to be installed can be created and the application installed on that new virtual machine.

When creating new virtual machines, this identification of which computing device should have a virtual machine created thereon, and optionally which virtual machines should be migrated to different computing devices, is performed as part of the physical deployment determining of act 310.

An application installation specification for physical deployment of the application to the test environment is then generated (act 312). The application installation specification can be saved as an installation page associated with the component representing the application in the application model. The application installation specification includes an identification, for each class of device in the test environment on which the application may be installed, of how to install the application. As each of these identifications indicates how to install the application on a particular class of devices, these identifications can also be referred to as device class installation specifications. The device class installation specifications can also identify which particular computing device(s) of that class the application is to be installed on (the computing device(s) determined in act 310).

This identification of how to install the application includes, for example, all of the settings for a virtual machine to be created on the device, the operating system to install on the virtual machine (including all of the settings of the operating system and the identification of all of the files that need to be copied to the virtual machine to install the operating system), all of the settings of the computing device that should be made or changed, an identification of all of the files that need to be copied to the computing device and where those files should be copied, an order in which files should be copied and/or settings made or changed, any initialization programs that need to be run after the files have been copied and/or settings made or changed, and so forth. This identification may also include installing an operating system and/or one or more additional applications on the computing device prior to creating a virtual machine on the device. For example, one class of computing device may be a bare computing device with no operating system installed on it. In such situations, the installation specification for that class of computing device would include initially installing the appropriate operating system on the computing device, followed by creating the virtual machine on the computing device, then installing an operating system on the virtual machine, and then installing the application on that operating system of the virtual machine.

It should be noted that this identification of how to install the application can include how to install the appropriate operating system, virtual machine, and/or other applications on the computing device(s) in a system in order to create the desired test environment. Once the test environment is created, the application can then be installed to computing device(s) and optionally virtual machine(s) in the test environment.

In situations where workloads are used, this identification of how to install the application identifies a particular image file that is the image to be run to perform the computing of the workload. The image file can be created as part of the process of building the model of the application in act 302, or alternatively can be created at other times (e.g., after the logical deployment evaluation has been performed in act 306). The image file includes the application files and data, and optionally the files and data for the operating system on which the application will be executed, for the workload. The image file can be copied to a disk drive or other storage device and executed by a virtual machine to perform the computing of the workload—no additional installation or configuration of the operating system or the application of the workload is typically required. The image file can be generated in any of a variety of conventional manners, such as by installing the application and operating system onto a virtual machine and generating a file that includes all the folders and files installed onto that virtual machine, by a user (e.g., the designer of the workload) manually identifying the folders and files to be included in the image file, and so forth. The image file can then be simply copied to the computing device(s) as part of the physical deployment in act 314 discussed below.

Additionally, if any migration of virtual machines is to be performed for a particular class of device, as identified in act 310, then the device class installation specification for that class of device includes an indication of the migration that is to be performed.

At least a portion of each device class installation specification can be generated automatically based on the information contained in the information pages associated with the software application to be installed. As discussed above, the constraint information page can include various default values. These default values can be used during act 312 to identify the settings or configuration values that should be set when installing the application, and thus which should be included in the device class installation specification. For example, a particular default value may be included in the configuration information page for a buffer size. This default value would be included in the device class installation specification so that when the application is installed on a particular computing device, the computing device settings (such as in an operating system registry) can be modified to include this default value for the buffer size (possibly replacing another value for the buffer size previously stored in the computing device settings).

In addition to default values, other constraint information included in the constraint information page can be used in act 312 to identify the settings or configuration values that should be set when installing the application. If a range of values for a particular setting were included in the constraint information page, then a setting to be used when installing the application can be derived from that range. For example, the lowest value in the range could be selected, the highest value in the range could be selected, the average of the highest and lowest values in the range could be computed and selected, a value in the range could be selected randomly, and so forth.

Furthermore, in addition to information contained in the information pages associated with the application, information contained in the information pages associated with the system (such as the computing device on which the application is to be installed) can be used as a basis for automatically generating at least a portion of each device class installation specification. Default values and/or ranges of values can be used to automatically generate values for the device class installation specification in the same manner as discussed above.

Additionally, information contained in the information pages associated with the test environment can be used as a basis for automatically generating at least a portion of each device class installation specification. Default values and/or ranges of values can be used to automatically generate values for the device class installation specification in the same manner as discussed above. Furthermore, information pages such as description pages can include identifications of particular operating systems and/or other applications that are to be part of the test environment. Each device class installation specification can then have automatically added thereto identifications of the appropriate files for the operating systems and/or other applications, as well as the proper settings for the operating systems and/or other applications.

It should also be noted that different components can have different constraints and different default values for the same settings or configuration values. In such situations, even though there is overlap of the constraints so that the different components can all be installed on a system, one or more of the default values may violate the constraints of another component. Thus, a suitable value that is compliant with the constraints of all of the components is determined. This suitable value can be determined in different manners, including manually, automatically, and semi-automatically. A suitable value can be determined manually by a user (such as the system administrator) inputting a suitable value for the setting or configuration value.

A suitable value can be determined automatically by evaluating the various constraints and selecting a value that satisfies all the constraints. This selected value is then used as the suitable value. For example, if each constraint lists a range of acceptable values, then a value that falls within each range of acceptable values can be automatically identified and used as the suitable value.

A suitable value can be determined semi-automatically by evaluating the various constraints and selecting a value that satisfies all the constraints analogous to the automatic manner. However, rather than automatically using the selected value as the suitable value, the selected value can be presented to a user (such as the system administrator) for approval. The user can accept this selected value, or alternatively input a different value. Alternatively, rather than presenting a single selected value to the user, the range of possible values (or portion of the range of possible values) that satisfies the constraints of the different components may be presented to the user.

It should further be noted that at least a portion of a device class installation specification may be generated manually rather than automatically. This manual generation refers to user inputs (such as by the application developer or system administrator) rather than automatic generation by some component or module (e.g., development module 400 discussed below). For example, the particular files to be identified in the device class installation specification may be identified manually rather than automatically.

Additionally, an assignment record is generated in act 312 that maintains a record of which device class installation specifications are to be used for which device classes. This record can be, for example, a mapping of device class to device class installation specification. Thus, given the application installation specification including multiple device class installation specifications, a determination as to which particular device class installation specification to use can be made based on the class of the device on which the application is to be installed. The assignment record generated can also be stored as part of the application installation specification.

Alternatively, rather than having a separate assignment record, an identification of which device class installation specification is associated with which particular class of device may be maintained in other manners. For example, the indication may be inherent in the naming convention used for the device class installation specification (e.g., each device class installation specification may be a separate file having a file name that identifies the particular class of device), or each device class installation specification may include an indication of the associated class of device.

The application installation specification is generated after the logical deployment evaluation in act 306. Thus, the application installation specification is generated only after it is verified that the application can be installed in the system. Additionally, the constraint information (such as default values) associated with the application, as well as information associated with the system and the test environment, can be used to determine settings to be included in the application installation specification. Furthermore, the application installation specification is generated for particular device class(es) that are present in the test environment and identified in the test environment model. Thus, it can be seen that the application installation specification generated in act 312 is derived at least in part from the model of the application as well as the model of the system and the model of the test environment.

After the application installation specification is created, physical deployment of the application to the test environment is performed (act 314). This physical deployment includes making the application installation specification available to a deployment system and having the deployment system install the application on the particular device(s) identified in act 310, including installing any necessary operating systems and/or other applications for the test environment, and optionally creating a new virtual machine(s) on the particular device(s). If the application installation specification indicates that migration of any virtual machines is to be performed, then this migration can also be carried out by the deployment system (optionally with the assistance of another component, such as the Virtual Server Migration Toolkit discussed above). Once it is given the application installation specification, the deployment system operates in a conventional manner to install the application. Any of a variety of deployment systems could be used in act 314, such as the Windows® Installer service or Microsoft® Systems Management Server, both available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

Once the application is installed the application (and any newly created virtual machine) becomes part of the system and part of the test environment and thus the application model is incorporated into the system model and a component for any new virtual machine (as well as the operating system for the new virtual machine, and any other components running on the virtual machine) is added to the system model. Similarly, the application model is incorporated into the test environment model and a component for any new virtual machine (as well as the operating system for the new virtual machine, and any other components running on the virtual machine) is added to the test environment model. Thus, after installation of the application, the SDM for the system includes the SDM of the application as well as a component(s) for any newly created virtual machine, and the SDM for the test environment includes the SDM of the application as well as a component(s) for any newly created virtual machine.

Once the application is installed one or more tests are run on the application in the test environment (act 316). The exact nature of these tests can vary by application and based on the desires of the application developer. The tests can include fully automated tests, where one or more test programs provide input to the application and monitor the performance of and/or outputs of the application. Additionally, the tests can include manual tests, where a system administrator or other user provides input to the application and/or monitors outputs of the application.

Process 300 continues based on the results of the tests that are run in act 316. In some instances, the tests may indicate that changes to the application need to be made. These changes may be minor in nature and not result in a change to the model of the application. However, if the changes result in a change to the model of the application, then process 300 returns to act 302 for a new model of the application to be built. Alternatively, additional tests in additional test environments may be run before the changes to the application are made, thus delaying the return to act 302. It should be noted that, if only the application is changed, then the model of the system need not be rebuilt in act 304 and the model of the test environment(s) need not be rebuilt in act 308; rather, the previously built system model and test environment model(s) can be used.

If process 300 does not return to act 302 after act 316, then a check is made as to whether there are any additional test environments in which one or more tests are to be run (act 318). If there are any such test environments, then process 300 returns to act 310 to determine physical deployment to one of the test environments. However, if there are no such test environments, then the testing process is complete (act 320).

Alternatively, the evaluation in act 306 may be for a particular computing device or virtual machine rather than for a class of computing device. In this alternative, the evaluation in act 306 is the same as discussed above, except that constraint and description information for a particular instance of a computing device are used rather than constraint and description information for a class of computing device. In such situations, the identification of the particular computing device is made in, or prior to, act 306 rather than in act 310, and can be made in the same manner as discussed in act 310.

It should also be noted that a particular device class installation specification may indicate to install the application on multiple different computing devices within the test environment. For example, the application developer or system administrator may desire to install the application on all of the computing devices of a particular class. In such a situation, an indication is included in the device class installation specification for that particular device class that the application is to be installed on all of the computing devices of that particular class, or alternatively may identify the particular computing devices (e.g., by name or other unique identifier) on which the application is to be installed. The deployment system used to install the application receives this indication and installs the application on the appropriate computing devices.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example application installation specification in additional detail. An installation specification development module 400 generates an application installation specification 402. Installation specification module 400 can be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or combinations thereof, and can perform act 312 of FIG. 3, and optionally additional acts of FIG. 3 (such as act 306, 308 and/or act 310). Application installation specification 402 includes multiple (×) device class installation specifications 404(1), 404(2), . . . 404(×). Each of the device class installation specifications 404 identifies how the application is to be installed on a particular class of computing device. Application installation specification 402 also includes specification assignment record 406 to identify which specification 404 corresponds to which class of computing device.

Application installation specification 402 is input to a deployment system 408 along with any necessary installation file(s) 410. Installation file(s) 410 include the file(s) that are to be installed on the computing device in order to install the application, such as one or more files of executable code, one or more files of data, and so forth. Alternatively, although illustrated separately, application installation specification 402 and installation file(s) 410 may be stored together in a single package (e.g., a compressed file).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the generation of an application installation specification for physical deployment to a test environment of act 312 of FIG. 3 in additional detail. FIG. 5 can be implemented in software, firmware, and/or hardware.

Initially, a device class in the test environment on which the application could be installed is selected (act 502). In certain embodiments the system administrator and/or application developer (or alternatively some other party) may desire that the application be installed only on certain classes of devices, in which case the devices on which the application could be installed is less than all of the devices in the system. Alternatively, the application may be able to be installed on any device in the system.

A device class installation specification for the selected device class is then generated, identifying how to install the application (and optionally a virtual machine) on the selected device class, as well as how to install any operating system and/or other applications needed for the test environment (act 504). As discussed above, this generation can include using default values included in an information page associated with the application in the application model for setting values to include in the installation specification being generated.

In some situations, the device class installation specification is generated in a format that is expected and understood by a deployment system that will be installing the application. The device class installation specification may be generated in this format in act 504, or alternatively may be subsequently translated into this format (e.g., by a translation component of the distribution system).

It should be noted that different device installation specifications may be generated for computing devices that will have the same functionality but are currently configured differently, such as computing devices that do not yet have an operating system installed and computing devices that already have an operating system installed. Alternatively, such computing devices may be considered to be part of the same device class, but the device class installation specification would include a conditional portion to be used based on the configuration of the particular instance of the computing device on which the application is being installed (e.g., the conditional portion may be bypassed if the computing device already has an installed operating system, or used to install an operating system on the computing device if an operating system is not already installed on the computing device).

A check is then made as to whether there are any additional device class(es) in the test environment for which no device class installation specification has been generated (act 506). If there are any such additional device class(es), then one such additional device class is selected (act 508) and the process returns to act 504 to generate a device class installation specification for the selected device class.

Returning to act 506, if device class installation specifications have been generated for all of the device class(es), then a specification assignment record is generated associating particular installation specifications with particular device classes (act 510). Alternatively, the specification assignment record may be generated in act 504 as the device class installation specifications are being generated, and an indication of which device class is associated with which device class installation specification added to the specification assignment record as the device class installation specification is generated.

The device class installation specifications generated in act 504 and the assignment record generated in act 510 are then combined into an application installation specification for the application (act 512).

FIG. 6 illustrates an example general computer environment 600, which can be used to implement the techniques described herein. The computer environment 600 is only one example of a computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the computer and network architectures. Neither should the computer environment 600 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the example computer environment 600.

Computer environment 600 includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of a computer 602. Computer 602 can be, for example, a computing device on which an application is installed or a computing device on which at least portions of process 300 of FIG. 3 are implemented. Computer 602 can be, for example, a desktop computer, a handheld computer, a notebook or laptop computer, a server computer, a game console, and so on. The components of computer 602 can include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 604, a system memory 606, and a system bus 608 that couples various system components including the processor 604 to the system memory 606.

The system bus 608 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, such architectures can include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and a Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus also known as a Mezzanine bus.

Computer 602 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Such media can be any available media that is accessible by computer 602 and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

The system memory 606 includes computer readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 610, and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) 612. A basic input/output system (BIOS) 614, containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 602, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 612. RAM 610 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently operated on by the processing unit 604.

Computer 602 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. By way of example, FIG. 6 illustrates a hard disk drive 616 for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown), a magnetic disk drive 618 for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk 620 (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive 622 for reading from and/or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk 624 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or other optical media. The hard disk drive 616, magnetic disk drive 618, and optical disk drive 622 are each connected to the system bus 608 by one or more data media interfaces 626. Alternatively, the hard disk drive 616, magnetic disk drive 618, and optical disk drive 622 can be connected to the system bus 608 by one or more interfaces (not shown).

The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for computer 602. Although the example illustrates a hard disk 616, a removable magnetic disk 620, and a removable optical disk 624, it is to be appreciated that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory cards, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, random access memories (RAM), read only memories (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and the like, can also be utilized to implement the exemplary computing system and environment.

Any number of program modules can be stored on the hard disk 616, magnetic disk 620, optical disk 624, ROM 612, and/or RAM 610, including by way of example, an operating system 626, one or more application programs 628, other program modules 630, and program data 632. Each of such operating system 626, one or more application programs 628, other program modules 630, and program data 632 (or some combination thereof) may implement all or part of the resident components that support the distributed file system.

A user can enter commands and information into computer 602 via input devices such as a keyboard 634 and a pointing device 636 (e.g., a “mouse”). Other input devices 638 (not shown specifically) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, serial port, scanner, and/or the like. These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit 604 via input/output interfaces 640 that are coupled to the system bus 608, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal serial bus (USB).

A monitor 642 or other type of display device can also be connected to the system bus 608 via an interface, such as a video adapter 644. In addition to the monitor 642, other output peripheral devices can include components such as speakers (not shown) and a printer 646 which can be connected to computer 602 via the input/output interfaces 640.

Computer 602 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computing device 648. By way of example, the remote computing device 648 can be a personal computer, portable computer, a server, a router, a network computer, a peer device or other common network node, and the like. The remote computing device 648 is illustrated as a portable computer that can include many or all of the elements and features described herein relative to computer 602.

Logical connections between computer 602 and the remote computer 648 are depicted as a local area network (LAN) 650 and a general wide area network (WAN) 652. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet.

When implemented in a LAN networking environment, the computer 602 is connected to a local network 650 via a network interface or adapter 654. When implemented in a WAN networking environment, the computer 602 typically includes a modem 656 or other means for establishing communications over the wide network 652. The modem 656, which can be internal or external to computer 602, can be connected to the system bus 608 via the input/output interfaces 640 or other appropriate mechanisms. It is to be appreciated that the illustrated network connections are exemplary and that other means of establishing communication link(s) between the computers 602 and 648 can be employed.

In a networked environment, such as that illustrated with computing environment 600, program modules depicted relative to the computer 602, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device. By way of example, remote application programs 658 reside on a memory device of remote computer 648. For purposes of illustration, application programs and other executable program components such as the operating system are illustrated herein as discrete blocks, although it is recognized that such programs and components reside at various times in different storage components of the computing device 602, and are executed by the data processor(s) of the computer.

Various modules and techniques may be described herein in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

An implementation of these modules and techniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise “computer storage media” and “communications media.”

“Computer storage media” includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by a computer.

“Communication media” typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as carrier wave or other transport mechanism. Communication media also includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of computer readable media.

Alternatively, portions of the framework may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or programmable logic devices (PLDs) could be designed or programmed to implement one or more portions of the framework.

CONCLUSION

Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed invention. 

1. A computer-implemented method comprising: using a system-definition-modeling device comprising a processor and a memory, building a model of an application, and a model of a system comprising one or more components, wherein the application, for which the model of the application is built, is to be installed in the system; based on the building, performing a logical deployment evaluation, wherein the evaluation involves comparing the model of the application to the model of the system to determine whether the application could be installed in the system; building a model of a test environment that includes at least some of the components in the system; determining a physical deployment to the test environment; accessing the model of the application; accessing the model of the system; accessing the model of the test environment; and automatically generating, with the system definition-modeling-device, an installation specification for the application that facilitates installation of the application onto the system in the test environment, the installation specification being derived at least in part from the accessed model of the application, the accessed model of the system, and the accessed model of the test environment; performing physical deployment of the application to the test environment; running one or more tests to determine functionality of the application; generating a plurality of device class installation specifications for the application, each of the plurality of device class installation specifications being for a different one of a plurality of classes of devices in the test environment on which the application could be installed.
 2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: accessing a model of each of one or more additional test environments; and generating, for each one of the one or more additional test environments, an installation specification for the application, the installation specification being derived at least in part from the model of the application, the model of the system, and the model of the one of the one or more additional test environments.
 3. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising: accessing a new model of the application, the new model reflecting changes to the application as a result of one or more tests run on the application in the test environment; wherein the generating, for each one of the one or more additional test environments, comprises generating an installation specification for the application, the installation specification being derived at least in part from the new model of the application, the model of the system, and the model of the one of the one or more additional test environments.
 4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the test environment includes one or more computing devices running one or more virtual machines.
 5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the installation specification includes an indication to install a virtual machine on a computing device of the test environment prior to installing the application on the virtual machine of the computing device.
 6. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: generating a record associating each of the plurality of device class installation specifications with one of the plurality of classes of devices.
 7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the generating comprises: accessing a constraint information page in the model of the application; obtaining default values for settings from the constraint information page; and including, in the installation specification, the default values to be stored as settings on a computing device of the test environment during installation of the application on the computing device.
 8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the logical deployment evaluation to determine whether the application could be installed in the system further comprises comparing constraints associated with the application to constraints associated with other applications installed in the system.
 9. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: identifying, prior to generating the installation specification, which one or more computing devices of a plurality of computing devices in the system is to have a new virtual machine created thereon, wherein the application is to be installed on the new virtual machine.
 10. One or more computer readable storage media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to: parse a model of an application; automatically determine, based on the model of the application, components of a virtual machine in which the application defined by the model would run; generate the virtual machine based on the determining; run the virtual machine on a computing device; install the application on the virtual machine run the application on the virtual machine; monitor the performance of the application while running on the virtual machine; adjust a parameter of the virtual machine to effectuate enhanced run-time performance of the application when it is run on the virtual machine; and generate a specification for a deployment machine on which to deploy the application; and generate an installation specificationfor the application, wherein the installation specification is based at least in part on the generated specification for a deployment machine.
 11. One or more computer readable storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein the generation of the virtual machine is further based on a particular class of computing device.
 12. One or more computer readable storage media as recited in claim 11, wherein the particular class of computing device is one of an existing computing device in a network.
 13. One or more computer readable storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein the parameter is a load characteristic of the virtual machine.
 14. One or more computer readable storage media as recited in claim 13, wherein the load characteristic is an average amount of memory usage.
 15. One or more computer readable storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein the installation specification for the application is further based on the model of the application.
 16. A computing device comprising: a processor; and a memory, coupled to the processor, to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: parse a model of an application; automatically determine, based on the model of the application, components of a virtual machine in which the application defined by the model would run; generate the virtual machine based on the determining; run the virtual machine on a computing device; install the application on the virtual machine; run the application on the virtual machine; monitor the performance of the application while running on the virtual machine; adjust a parameter of the virtual machine to effectuate enhanced run-time performance of the application when it is run on the virtual machine; generate a specification for a deployment machine on which to deploy the application; and generate an installation specification for the application, wherein the installation specification is based at least in part on the generated specification for a deployment machine.
 17. A computing device as recited in claim 16, wherein the generation of the virtual machine is further based on a particular class of computing device.
 18. A computing device as recited in claim 17, wherein the particular class of computing device is one of an existing computing device in a network.
 19. A computing device as recited in claim 16, wherein the parameter is a load characteristic of the virtual machine.
 20. A computing device as recited in claim 19, wherein the load characteristic is an average amount of memory usage. 